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He was twisting everything up, trying to confuse me. “That’s not true.”
“Then tell me what’s changed. Tell me why I’m not that person anymore. Tell me why you can’t trust me. Tell me why we’re not a team.”
His words tore me apart. I should have gone upstairs and refused to listen. “You haven’t changed. That’s the problem.”
“Want your tacos now?”
“What?” His change of subject caught me off guard.
“It’s a simple question. Do you want your tacos now?”
“Good, so we’re done talking about us?” I shot back. “That works for me.”
“Not at all. I want to hear why I’m such a terrible person.”
“You’re not a terrible person. We’re just not right for each other.”
“We’re perfect together. Want your tacos?”
He did it again, trying to distract me.
“I’m done talking if you’re not going to listen.”
“I’m listening, Nickels.”
There was that name again—my special name. I wiped a tear and listened as the sound of paper being unwrapped came through the wood of the door.
I wiped my cheek with my sleeve. “I know how you think there’s this law passed down on a stone tablet that you have to honor your promises, or kill yourself or something.”
“You’re being a little dramatic,” he said.
“You remember the night we got back here and found my door broken?”
“Vividly. That’s the night I got to hold you all night long and keep the drunk Nicole safe from the dark. You felt so good up against me because we are good together.”
I could do without the reminder that I’d imbibed way too much. “Stop it. You said I had to come home with you because you promised to keep me safe, right?”
“I did promise to keep you safe. I did, and I always will.”
“When I refused, you said you’d never forgive me if I didn’t let you keep your promise. That’s what you told me, and that’s the problem. You said you’d never forgive me.”
His silence showed I’d hit a nerve. He didn’t have a comeback.
I continued. “You promised your father you’d go to London, and you even signed it.”
“That’s off now,” he objected.
“How can it be? I saw the blue folder in your desk. The one with the paper you and he signed barely two weeks ago that said you’d go to London.”
“I told you I changed my mind. I’m staying here with you. I love you, Nicole.”
Love?
I gasped. It was the one thing I’d wished to hear for weeks. But not now, not today, not after what I’d read.
“How dare you do that?”
“Do what?”
